


Surreal But Nice

by angelica



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: AU, F/M, I Don't Even Know, It came to me while showering, Movie Star and the Local Tech Village Clerk, Notting Hill AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-22 03:40:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2493113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelica/pseuds/angelica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"After all... I'm just a guy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him."</p>
<p>a.k.a.</p>
<p>One Wednesday, Felicity Smoak of Tech Village meets Oliver Queen, the movie star.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Arrow or Notting Hill.

The Wednesday that changes everything starts normal enough. She wakes up, gives Barry fashion advice for his date with Iris, picks up her coffee from the coffee shop next door, opens up the store and starts helping the occasional customer. She is grateful that the store is in a hidden corner of Starling City, away from the crowds and attracts less customers unlike other stores of the Tech Village chain.

By 11:30, the business is dead. She hides behind her laptop, checks up on her blog, goes through her favorite websites, composes two long, personal emails to her friends from college. She tucks her pen in her hair, chews her gum loudly, gets up and walks around the empty store to stretch her legs.

She decides to go to the back room for a second when she hears the bell chime. She pops her head out to see a tall guy wearing a baseball hat with sunglasses walk in. She decides to watch the guy from the cameras instead of bothering to go in and wait as he browses for the new smart phone and leave. She is used to customers just browsing and not buying. She is running low on her coffee and her patience is running low as well, so she stays in the back room to avoid interaction even though the ‘S.W.E.E.T.’ poster on the wall asks that she should smile, welcome, keep eye-contact, be energetic and thank the customer in the end.

The doorbell chimes again and from the screens, she sees a familiar red hoodie. That sight is more than enough to bring her out from her hidden spot. She sees the guy in the baseball cap who is taller than she anticipated and smiles at him then walks over to the red hoodie guy. “Excuse me, are you going to pay for that?” she asks noticing the bulge under his hoodie.

The guy looks at her, his expression unchanging. “What are you talking about?” he questions.

“That memory disk?” She points to his nether regions. “The one you just put in your pants?” she asks. He just shakes his head questioningly. “Don’t make me get in your pants.” she reacts, then rephrases. “I mean, don’t make me call the police. I do have friends in the police force, wouldn’t want you to go to jail for something worth twenty bucks.”

That seems to capture his attention. “What if I did have a memory disk in my pants?”

“Ideally, when I go back to my desk, you’d remove the said memory disk from where it is now and place it back to where it was and we can forget about this whole ordeal as long as you promise never to come back here.” she says with a smile, pushing her glasses on the bridge of her nose. “I’ll leave you to it.” she adds and walks to the customer in the baseball hat. “Anything I can help you with?”

“It’s fine, I was gonna steal one of the memory disks, but changed my mind.” he teases with a smile and she starts laughing. “I just need a new pack of batteries.”

The guy in the red hoodie comes to the register and stops next to the baseball hat guy. “Excuse me, can we take a selfie?” he asks, which surprises her. She watches as the whole incident unfolds.

“Sure.” he nods. “Just make sure you didn’t steal the phone.”

“Oh, no man.” he protests and brings out a flip phone. He moves in closer to the baseball hat guy and takes the photo. Then he looks at the screen and sees the expression the baseball hat guy gave. “Couldn’t you just smile?” he asks, which she thinks is quite rude.

“They don’t allow people to smile when taking mug shots, I thought this would be a reminder for you.” he answers in a serious tone.

“Good one.” the guy in the red hoodie smiles. He nods at both of them, gives an awkward goodbye gesture and leaves.

She looks at the baseball hat guy who is still at the same spot before her. “Sorry about that.” she apologizes even though she isn’t entirely sure why she is apologizing. “This wasn’t the first time this happened.” she adds.

“You need more staff and maybe a security guard here.” he comments with a grin. “I’ll just take this one.” He grabs a pack of batteries from the stand next to the register and hands it to her.

“Alright.” she says and scans the barcode. “Everybody needs batteries. God knows how many batteries I drain myself doing stuff.” she adds, then pauses, catching up on just what she said. “I mean I use batteries for normal stuff like remote controls and wireless mice. I don’t use them for my vibrator, no.” She flushes. “And I can’t believe I just mentioned my vibrator out loud in public. I’m so sorry.” She throws the pack into a bag. “It’s $8.26. The bag is on the house.”

Without any change in his expression, he takes out his wallet and hands her his credit card. The transaction is done in seconds. She hands him the credit card back, gives the receipt for him to sign. He signs it diligently, leaves the pen right next to her hand and with a smile, he grabs the bag and is gone in seconds, leaving her speechless and still flushed, looking at the door he walks out through.

Recognition kicks in. It hits her suddenly, the grandeur and the surreality of what just happened. She walks to the door and looks outside, then places her head between her hands. At that exact moment, the bell chimes again and John Diggle walks in.

“Here you go, one cappuccino.” he hands her a small paper cup that burns her hand momentarily because he always forgets the coffee sleeves. “Decided you might need the extra caffeine today.”

“My hero.” she says. “I don’t think you’d believe who just came in.” she comments.

“Who? Was it someone famous?” Diggle asks rather chipper, which surprises her.

“Nope.” she lies, disregarding the event mostly because she is still unsure whether the whole thing really happened.

“It would be great if someone famous came to the store, though. We need the publicity, they’re gonna close down this place if we don’t make some revenue.” he says as he walks to the register, leaving her at the door.

She is done with the small drink in less than a minute. “Do you want another one? I can go grab one?” she shouts out to Diggle.

“You know what, I actually want some diet coke.” he answers. She goes to the register to grab her purse from the locked cabinet underneath and leaves the store to the capable and strong hands of Diggle.

She walks down the empty street to go to the 7/11 around the block instead of the coffee shop next door to take advantage of the warm weather and regrets it in a few minutes as the sun burns through her dark blue polo shirt.

She waits in line at the register while a couple plays the lottery, appreciating the cold feeling she gets from the soda cans on her skin. She smiles at the cashier as she hands him the money. She gets out and decides she can’t last any longer in the heat and opens up her can, gulping it down hungrily.

She hears a horn and turns to look where the noise is coming from while she is turning the corner and then runs into something. She feels the cold soda searing into her shirt and realizes that she actually ran into someone. Someone very solid and tall. She looks up and sees Oliver Queen looking down at her with an angry face.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry.” she gasps, moving away from him. She looks at him and sees the white shirt he is wearing under his black leather jacket soaked up with her coke, turning into a dark color, the shirt sticking to his body, revealing some abs she can’t help but notice. “I’m so sorry, let me help you.”

“It’s okay.” he says but she can detect the tone of annoyance in his voice. He moves his hands up and down his torso but ruins the shirt for the worse.

“My car is around the corner and I have a spare shirt at the back. Don’t ask me why I have spare men’s shirt in my car, I just do. You can change into that.” she offers quickly while he continues to ignore her.

“Don’t worry, I just need to get to my car.”

“I also have a phone.” she adds. “And internet. We can get you back on the street in less than five minutes. In a non-prostitute way, obviously.” She flushes and forgets about her own ruined shirt that is now sticking to her body.

That garners a smile from him. “What do you mean your car is around the corner? Tell me in yards.”

“Um.” she stops to think. “10 yards, I think? See that red car over there?” she points to the car across the street from the store. “That’s mine.”

He pauses for a second then seems to agree and follows her quietly to the car, jaywalking across the street. She unlocks the door from afar and rushes to open the trunk and takes out the gym bag hidden amongst the crap she keeps in her car. She rummages through the items, goes through motherboards and spare keyboards and numerous mismatched socks and locates what she is looking for just when he comes and stands next to her. She can’t help but notice how big he is in comparison to the car and how he towers over her.

“Here you go.” she hands the shirt. “It belongs to my boss, I’m sure it’ll fit, might even run big. And no, I don’t have my boss’s shirt in my car because I sleep with him, he just left in the office one day and I forgot to return it.” She pauses. “You really didn’t need to hear that.”

He hands her the bag she gave him earlier that holds the batteries and takes off his jacket, places it on top of the car. He takes off his hat and sunglasses and places them on the car, too. Before she can even realize what he is about to do, he lifts his shirt and takes it off, uses it to clean the coke that seared through. For a second, she can’t help but look away from his naked torso and uses the opportunity to ogle at his abs.

“I have some water, too.” she suddenly thinks and hands him a bottle when she realizes that the coke has dried and is sticky on his skin. She tries to look away and finally does, focusing on the gym bag with the useless crap. He hands her the ruined shirt and she takes it, noticing that he is still shirtless. She bites her bottom lip and starts playing with her ponytail, then she realizes that she is subconsciously trying to flirt with Oliver Queen so she stops it all together.

After the longest minute of her life, he finally puts on the shirt that is indeed too big on him and wear his jacket on top of it. He looks ridiculous with the large shirt but without the glasses and the hat and up and close and personal, she thinks he is the best looking specimen of a men she has ever seen.

“Thanks.” he responds and she realizes that she said the last part out loud.

“Would you like some coke?” she asks out of courtesy, then she recognizes the irony of the situation.

“No.” he responds.

“Do you want to call your driver?” she asks.

“No.”

She smiles. “Do you say no to every question?”

He gives her a quizzical look. “No.” he responds with a grin. “I’d better get going.”

“Yeah, sure.” she says, closing the trunk. “Can I take this chance to tell you that I really liked you in that movie, The Gambit, even though every critic hated it? I really appreciated your effort and I think it’s your most underrated role.” she quickly comments. “This will be my only chance to ever tell you this. Not that you need my opinion on your roles. I just wanted you to know it. Nobody will ever believe that this happened, so I’ll remember this by making sure you know how I feel about that movie.”

“Thanks.” he smiles and nods. She thinks it’s a genuine one. He takes out his phone.

“So, it was nice to meet you.” she sighs, runs a hand through her hair. “Surreal, but nice.”

He doesn’t respond but just looks at her with the same smile. He brings his phone to his ear, gives her a final nod and walks away. She is left with a ruined shirt, one and a half cans of soda and the realization that she said the cheesiest thing ever to a huge movie star. She sighs and leans on the car. “Surreal but nice? What was I thinking?” she thinks out loud, chastising herself, pursing her lips.

She locks her car and is about to take a step when she senses someone next to her. She looks up and sees him again. “Hi.” he smiles.

“Hi.”

“I forgot my bag.” he says.

“Oh, right.” she says and looks at her hand. She completely forgot about the bag that is indeed in her hands. “Sorry about that.” she says and lifts it. She hands it to him and their eyes meet. Then the thing she expects the least happens.

Oliver Queen places his both hands on the sides of her face, leans down and kisses her. His lips are soft upon hers and his stubble tickles her skin. She feels her cheeks heat against his hands and quickly responds to the kiss with fervor, her eyes closed tightly, afraid that when she opens them, she will realize it’s all a dream. Their noses bump lightly.

She feels him move away from her and not wanting to break the contact, she moves her lips forward. For a second their lips remain in contact and their mouths slightly apart and she feels like they breathe each other. Then he pulls away and she opens her eyes. He still stands before her, his eyes shining, a genuine smile on his face.

She is confused, not because he kissed her but because he came back after her stupid comment even though it is to pick up his batteries when she knows he could go and buy a battery factory instead. “I’m very sorry…” she says and for a second he looks disappointed. “For the surreal but nice comment disaster.” she adds.

“That’s okay.” he answers. “I thought the vibrator mention was the low point.” he continues teasingly.

She laughs. Then from the corner of her eye, she sees Diggle coming out of the store and see her across the street. “I’m sorry, my manager. I’d better get going.”

“Alright.” he says. “Probably best not to tell anyone about this.” he whispers.

“Of course. I’ll tell myself, sometimes.” she says.

“Goodbye, Felicity.” he whispers her name softly and she realizes she was wearing her name tag all along. He smiles then puts on his cap and glasses, walks away and disappears around the corner. She unlocks her car to find her spare work shirt and goes back to work.

     

 


	2. Chapter 2

“You just missed the best scene.” Barry yells from the couch when she enters the apartment. “This dude is killing it.”

“Hello to you, too, Barry.” she says as she drops her bag on the floor and takes off her shoes. Her feet immediately appreciate the freedom from non-slip sneakers. “What are you watching?”

“It’s that new Oliver Queen movie, it came out on VOD today.” he answers without looking at her. She walks over to him and sees him in his sweatpants with a bag of chips on his lap. She looks at the screen and sees Oliver Queen punching someone whom she thinks is the villain.

“What happened to your date with Iris?” she asks as she sinks into the couch and reaches for the chips. “I thought you were seeing her tonight.”

“She had a paper to finish.” He chews the chips loudly. She momentarily feels sorry for Barry because this is the umpteenth time Iris blew him off, but looking at him, she can see Iris has a point. Sometimes she can’t believe that they used to date. “How was work?”

Her cheeks heat for a second, reminiscing the day’s events with Oliver Queen who is currently shooting a gun on her screen, his aim perfect and hitting the target. Then she remembers how Barry is obsessed with the said movie actor and she knows for sure that she won’t hear the end of it if she shares her story. In addition, Barry is the worst keeper of secrets so with one word coming out of her mouth, the whole internet would know of Oliver Queen kissing a random IT store clerk. So she decides to lie. “Nothing exciting.” she responds and focuses on the movie.

Oliver Queen is wearing a dark pair of leather pants, which she thinks look uncomfortable, and a leather jacket that is not unlike the one he was wearing from before. His hair is longer and lighter, which she thinks is due to bleach, and there are scars on his face. He throws one punch after another then gets hit in the stomach and falls down, then does an insane move that gets him immediately on his feet, kicking someone else and she can easily recognize that he is actually doing his own stunts, which is surely impressive.

“Isn’t this dude the coolest?” Barry asks, pointing at the screen. She just nods, biting her cheeks from the inside. If only he knew. “Hey, can I have your phone? I need to beat your score in that level of Angry Birds.”

“Give it your best shot.” she teases him, knowing that he could never beat her score and hands the phone. “I’m going to take a shower.”

She comes back downstairs refreshed and her hair in a towel and heads to the kitchen to make some instant noodles. Barry is still where she left him, this time the TV is turned off and he is playing with her phone. “I was this close to beating you score.” he sighs, lifting his hand up to show up his thumb and index finger close to each other. “Some dude called you from an unknown number. I almost didn’t answer but I couldn’t figure out how to decline the call.”

“Oh?” she reacts.

“He said his name was Oliver and said he is staying at the Starling Royale.” he continues without looking at her.

“What?” she jumps to the couch and grabs the phone from his hands, ignoring Barry’s complaints. “When did he call?” she asks as she goes through her caller history but nothing shows up. “Barry.” she shouts.

“Felicity, chill.” he comments. “He asked you to call him at the hotel.”

Her mouth forms an ‘o’. “How did he sound? Was he calm or nervous?”

“He sounded like any other dude.” he responds. “Here, I googled the hotel’s number for you. Call.” he adds, pointing at his own phone.

Felicity looks at Barry, then the phone at this hands and grabs it. She looks at the number and dials it from her phone, going upstairs to her room to stay away from Barry and his bat-like hearing. A receptionist answers her call and she asks to be connected to Oliver Queen’s room, only to be told that they don’t have such a guest staying with them. Defeated, she hangs up and goes back downstairs.

“He said he was staying under a name.” Barry calls out from the couch as she grabs a bottle of water from the fridge. “I don’t remember what it was, but it sounded something cryptic and manly.”

“And you are telling me this now?” she shouts. “Remember Barry, remember! This is important.”

“Why are you obsessing over a guy calling for what appears to be a booty call? Normal people don’t ask people to call them at their hotels.”

“Barry.” she shouts again, ignoring his grunts. Her heart starts beating faster in her rib cage, knowing that Oliver, the Oliver Queen liked her enough to call her after kissing her. She still can’t believe the whole thing. Her surreal but real comment actually makes a lot of sense regardless of how stupid it sounds. “Barry, remember the name.” she repeats, then brings out the big guns: her puppy eyes. “Please.”

Barry shakes his head. “No, no, no, you aren’t going to give me the puppy eyes. Felicity!” he says but can’t stop her. “Okay. It sounded something like The Bomb.”

“What?” she laughs, but he gives her his sincere look so she knows he is telling the truth. She redials the number and asks to be patched through to The Bomb and the receptionist actually doesn’t laugh at her, but tells her it’s incorrect so she knows they’re up to something.

“The Arrow.” Barry says nonchalantly.

“The Arrow?” she repeats.

“I’ll put you right through, miss. Who should I say is calling?” the receptionist asks.

“What?” she reacts, confused because the pseudonym sounds ridiculous but apparently it does the trick. She clears her throat. “Um, this is Felicity Smoak.” she offers though it sounds more like a question than a statement. A familiar waiting music fills her ears for a second while she turns her back and moves away from Barry and suddenly a voice she has become very familiar with responds.

“Felicity, thanks for calling back.”

“Oh, hi. Sorry, my idiotic roommate answered my phone. Then he didn’t remember your name. I’m sorry. And I’m rambling, sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize. I use pseudonyms for security reasons.” he explains. “Would you like to meet me for coffee sometime?”

She can’t believe her ears and starts jumping in her place. “Fascinating.” she responds, for some reason faking a British accent. She swats a hand on her head. “I mean, yes, I’d like that.”

“Great.” he quickly answers. “How about tomorrow afternoon? You can come to the hotel, it should be easier.”

“Yes, I’d love that.” she responds. “Bye.” She hangs up and sits on the kitchen counter, her heart still strumming in her ribcage.

“So you reached him, huh?” Barry comes, leaning against the doorframe, still eating chips. She grabs the kitchen towel and throws it at him, then decides to go upstairs to her room, skipping all the way.

It takes her the longest time to decide on what to wear the next day when she comes from work. She quickly showers, puts her hair in her signature ponytail and spends a generous time in front of her closet. She stands in her matching black underwear and finally decides on a new, white fit-flare dress with black polka dots. She has a lot of other options, but decides that if she wants to do this, she will need to go for sophisticated and lady-like than slutty. She thinks it would make her stand away from the other women she is sure throwing themselves at his feet.

She leaves her car with the valet and doesn’t have much time to regret the abysmal amount of money she would later be paying as she walks through the lobby like a woman on a mission. She knows that he is staying at the king suite so she heads directly to the elevator, confident in her patent black shoes. Just as the doors are about to close, another woman in a suit gets in, asks her to press the penthouse button, the floor she is going.

When they reach the floor, Felicity heads right, and the woman comes after her. She walks a little faster but the woman catches up and shows up right next to her at the door. Felicity gives her a questioning look, the woman knocks on the door. Confused about the whole thing, Felicity doesn’t say a thing.

“Oh, welcome. Sorry we’re running late. Here.” A man in his fifties hands her a booklet featuring Oliver’s face with the title ‘Verdant’ on it. “Wanna come this way?” They follow him inside and Felicity sees a bunch of other people inside the suite, with flowers and movie posters around them. “So, what did you think of the film?”

“I thought it was fantastic.” her blonde companion replies. “It was _Schindler’s List_ meet _The Graduate._ ”

Felicity recognizes the movie names and wonders what kind of a ridiculous movie would be a mix of the two and continues to look around baffled. She knows she is a smart person, but as she looks around, she can’t quite comprehend what is going on. So she does what she feels the most comfortable doing – she nods absentmindedly.

“I’m sorry, which magazines are you from?” the man asks.

“Jean Loring, Entertainment Weekly.”

Felicity draws a blank, then looks around the room. Her eyes land on a magazine on top of a coffee table. “Felicity Smoak, Wired.” she replies quickly. The man takes notes. She feels flustered all over and hopes that the heat she is feeling is not reflected on her face. “I think he might be expecting me.” she whispers, taking a step forward.

“I’ll go check.” the man replies. “Take a seat.”

She and Jean walk towards the window and sit down side by side on a coach. “You are dressed really well for this.” she comments.

“Oh, no, I have a date after this. Down the street. A date. No, I didn’t dress up for this. I dressed for the date.” she rambles and Jean just nods with a smile. She quietly wishes for the earth to open up and swallow her alive.

“Ms. Smoak?” She lifts her head and sees the man looking at her. She gets up, feeling giddy and follows him through a corridor to a room. “You’ve got five minutes.” he says and opens the door.

Oliver is standing by the bay windows, looking outside with her back to him. He is wearing a gray suit and she can’t help but compare how different he looks now before him to how he looked the day before. She also can’t help but admire how handsome he looks regardless of what he is or is not wearing. “Hi.” she says and Oliver looks around. A smile appears on his face.

“Hey.” he responds as he takes a step forward.

She hears the door close and turns back to see another tall, muscular man inside the room. “Everything alright?” he asks and she detects an accent in his voice. Australian, she thinks.

“Ms. Smoak, this is Slade Wilson, my manager.” Oliver says.

The two of them sit on the couch while Felicity sits on the armchair facing the two of them. “You are from, Wired?” The accent sounds accusing to her ears.

Felicity blushes and feels Oliver’s eyes on her. “Yeah.” she responds and gulps. Slade turns his back to them and she takes the opportunity to look at Oliver and sees that he prompts her to ask him something with his eyes. “So, um…” she begins. “Uh, the film is great. I was just wondering whether you thought about having more… computers in it.”

Oliver laughs lightly. “It was difficult, obviously being set in during the 18th century.”

“Right.” She turns crimson and hates everything. Then she hears the door again and sees that Slade Wilson has left. “I’m so sorry, I arrived outside and they gave this thing to me.”

“It’s okay.” he smiles. “I’m sorry, we were running late.” he says. “I just wanted to make sure you are okay with the whole kissing thing. I don’t know what came over me.”

She really shouldn’t feel disappointed, but it all comes crashing down on her. “Oh yeah, fine, totally fine, I’m totally fine with it. Are you fine with it? You should be, because I’m totally fine with it. Just fine.”

The door opens again and Slade Wilson enters back in. “Mr. Queen can talk about his next movie, too. We’ll be shooting it here in Starling City next summer.”

“Oh, great. Will there be any computers in that one?” she asks. “Or any gadgets? We at Wired love things wired. Or wireless. Like the internet.”

“It’s a western.” Oliver responds.

“Right.” she grits her teeth. The manager leaves again. “I’m an idiot, I apologize. This is the sort of thing that happens in dreams, not real life. And I had dreamed of you, alright. Not in a sexual way. I mean, there was that one time. Okay, I’m shutting up.” she says and closes her eyes. “Three, two, one.” she breathes. “Good dreams. It’s a dream in fact that I see you again.”

“What happens next in the dream?”

Just before she is about to open her mouth to answer, Slade Wilson comes back in. “Last question, I’m afraid.”

She decides to take the opportunity to ask something that’s been bothering her and something that won’t further embarrass her. “What were the batteries for?” she asks.

Oliver tilts his head, then answers. “For normal stuff, like remote controls and wireless mice.” He repeats her words to her and her earlier disappointment disappears. “It was very nice meeting you, Ms. Smoak.” He gets on his feet and hands out his hand. She grabs it and shakes it and tries to ignore the fact that he runs circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.

She rushes to the door and wants to leave immediately, but instead she is taken around the suite, introduced to various other actors and actresses in the movie, including an 8-year old girl who has three blockbusters already under her belt. She feels awkward and uncomfortable and just wants to go to her room and spend three days under her comforter with pints of mint chip. Just when she is finally about to leave, Slade Wilson finds her and drags her to another room.

Oliver is inside the room, his jacket discarded, the top buttons of his shirt undone. “I had a thing that I was supposed to do for tonight, but it got canceled.” he says, sitting on the arm of the couch, his hands on his thighs.

Felicity looks at him, confused. “Oh? Sorry to hear that? I hate it when you make plans and they get canceled.” she blurts out. “Not really, I love it when plans get canceled, it saves me the trouble of coming up with an excuse to avoid doing a thing because I usually don’t like doing things but I am also very unable to say no to things.”

Oliver just smiles at her while she wants to disappear. “Felicity, would you like to go out to dinner with me?”

“I don’t wanna read too much into this, but are you asking me out on a date? Like an actual date? Like a _date_ date?”

He pauses for a second and gulps, then stands up. “Sure, I mean… the implication of being dinner with you…”

“Usually I’m the one talking in sentence fragments.” Felicity cuts in because while he looks super cute all flustered and babbling, she also wants a firm statement for the sake of her sanity.

He licks his lips, then sighs. “Would you like to go to dinner with me?” he repeats, in all his seriousness.

She nods her head right away before her mouth comes up with a response. “Yes.” She agrees, then remembers something. “Shit, I forgot. I have a thing tonight. I promised my manager that I’d go to his baby daughter’s birthday party. We are having dinner at their house.”

“Okay, that’s fine. If it’s alright, I can be your date.”

Her eyes grow larger. “You want to… be my date… to my manager’s daughter’s birthday party?”

“If it’s alright with you.” he offers so politely that she fights the urge to kiss him on the spot. Instead she nods and scribbles down her address for him to pick her up and leaves the hotel. Paying the same amount she pays for her internet for a month to the valet for her car for two hours doesn’t even bother her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here is another chapter because this just wouldn't leave me. I think I'll try to write 5 chapters in total, no promises though! Thank you all for your comments!


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone keeps their cool during dinner by some miracle. Even baby Sara doesn’t cry. It’s only when they are out of the door that the laughter comes and she realizes that her friends were on their best behaviors and could hold it only after they leave. She can’t blame them, not really.

Despite all her expectations, the dinner goes quite pleasantly.

After insisting that she doesn’t want to ride in a limo and instead convinces Oliver to just walk with her on the streets of the suburbs of Starling City where she is sure that nobody would see them, the two of them arrive a little late and are greeted by a shocked Diggle. It is funny because while Diggle is recognizable freaking out, Lyla doesn’t recognize Oliver and starts asking questions about his salary. It becomes funnier when he hesitantly takes baby Sara in his arms and the baby throws up on him. He washes up but his shirt is ruined and that’s how Oliver Queen ends up wearing a shirt of Diggle for the second time in two days. The food is good, the wine is delightful, the conversation is lovely. They put the baby to bed and then excuse themselves. The second the door closes, the laughter comes.

“Sorry, they always do it when I leave the house.” she says. “I hate it.”

They start walking, enjoying the breezy night. “Your boss is huge.” Oliver comments. “This is the second shirt of his I’m wearing and it feels like I’m swimming in it.”

She starts laughing, a genuine, stomach-clenching laugh. “I’m sorry this keeps happening to you, I swear it’s not on purpose.”

“I should be more careful when I hold babies.” he smiles. “Or when I run into beautiful women.”

She blushes. “Yeah, you should remind yourself of that.” she responds, trying not to dwell on his comment. “My place is nearby, if you like.”

He turns to look at her, gives her a rather sad smile. “Too complicated.” he whispers. “I’d rather just walk around, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, of course.” she mutters. “This neighborhood has all these small parks.” She points at a fence as they pass by. “They’re quite lovely.”

“Let’s go in.” Oliver offers, walking towards a gate.

“That’s the point of the gates, they’re private.” she says. “Only people in the community have access. I’m not from around here.”

“Well, we can just climb in. A little trespassing doesn't hurt anyone.” he winks at her and with one move, he scales the gate and is on the other side while she just stares at him. “Come on.”

“You just made it look easier than it is.” she pouts. “I don’t think I can do it.” she says and steps on one part of the fence then steps up and suddenly she is climbing and then is sliding off to the other side. “This is easier than it looks like.” she admits just as she is about to lift her hands. She finally jumps and loses her balance, but Oliver is immediately there, placing his hands on her waist, steadying her. “Thanks.” she says shyly. “Now I believe that you actually do your own stunts.” she adds when his hands leave her waist and they start walking.

“Wow, look at this garden.” Oliver sighs when they stop. There is a small fountain and the trees are decorated with small fairy lights and the roses are in full bloom. “Made the whole ordeal worthwhile.” he admits.

She takes that as her cue. She grabs the lapels of his leather jacket and pulls him towards her and captures his lips with her own. She doesn’t think about the fact that now she is initiating it and that she is breaking her own rule of no kissing on first dates. She just thinks that she is in a beautiful garden with a cute guy who asked her out, who seems to like her and doesn’t seem to hate her friends, who helped her get off a gate without making a fool of herself, who just happens to be famous.

Oliver seems surprised at her action but soon his arms are around her waist, pulling her closer while she takes the opportunity to raise her hands and run her fingers through his hair. It is as soft as she imagined. When they pull apart, they are both breathless. She opens her eyes and smiles at him, glad to see that he is doing the same thing. She nudges him with her shoulder and starts walking. “Come and sit with me.” she says as she sits by the fountain.

“Are you busy tomorrow?” he asks when he sits down next to her, his legs touching her bare legs.

“I thought you were going back to LA tomorrow?” she questions.

He shrugs. “I was.” he replies.

The next day, Diggle is more than happy to let her leave the store early. As agreed, she goes to meet Oliver at an Italian restaurant and waits nervously. The restaurant is too romantic looking for her liking with dimmed lights and candles on tables and she gets all the more nervous. She gets seated at a secluded corner, away from curious eyes. She sips from her water when he arrives five minutes late. She stands up and they hug each other. She is grateful that her heels are doing their job and their height finally match.

They look at each other and smile nervously. She has her own reasons for being nervous but she is clueless as to why he would be. A waiter appears by their side and asks for their drinks. “Scotch, neat.” he says and furrows his brow at her choice. “Are you sure? Booze might help with the nerves.”

“Oh no, I’m good. I already took something for my nerves.” she offers.

“Am I being crazy? What do we have to be nervous about?” he asks and she can’t help but agree. “I mean, we already kissed. Twice.”

“And I’ve already seen you shirtless. Twice” she blurts out, then looks away. The waiter comes back with their drinks and they order their food. “So, how long are you in town for?” she asks, taking a sip from her new water.

“I’m leaving tomorrow.” he answers, looking a little forlorn. “I need to go back to LA then I’ve a few publicity events in New York and then in London.”

“That sounds nice.” she comments. “And tiring. I mean, I’ve never been to London but just the idea of the plane ride and the following inevitable jetlag tires me out. Not that I’ve ever been jetlagged. The longest flight I took was when I went to Boston.”

“For MIT, right?”

“You remembered.” she smiles. “Of course you’d remember, I mentioned it like three times yesterday.”

“I’d have remembered anyway.” he smirks. “Why is a smart, beautiful MIT graduate like you working as an IT clerk?”

His question startles her because, for starters, she doesn’t think someone like Oliver Queen would be interested in such mundane things and also because she doesn’t genuinely have a valid answer. “I don’t know, I just ended up there.” she shrugs. “I live close by, I don’t deal with many people though the ones I deal with are either idiots who have never used a real computer before or they are thieves. The insurance covers dental, though.”

“You should look for other options.” he says. “You deserve more from your life.”

She blushes and can’t come up with a response. She opts to look away and it’s then when she hears the conversation from the table behind them. She realizes Oliver hears it too because he quiets down and listens.

“He is out there because of his genetics and not because he is talented.” one of the voices says. “I wish I could make money just because I’m good looking and have fangirls blogging about me.”

“You know, a dude getting out there, showing off his body is no different than being a male prostitute.” another male comments. “Getting naked for the camera for money. That’s what gigolos do, or porn stars.” Hearing the comment, she watches Oliver’s face for his reaction but his face remains expressionless. She can’t help but feel for him, she knows very well how it is never good to hear people say bad things about you, especially when they don’t know you. She has had her share off hearing people talk behind her back growing up and knows how hurtful it is.

“I, for one, can’t complain.” a third voice, this time a female says. “He’s gorgeous and I’m grateful. It just helps me with my fantasies.”

“Anna, you’re married!”

“A girl can still fantasize while her husband is traveling. I’m pretty sure Oliver Queen is great in the sack, unlike my husband.”

“We really didn’t need to hear that about George.” one of the guys complain and Felicity takes that as her cue. She drops her napkin on the table and quickly goes to the table, ignoring Oliver who tries to stop her.

“And I really didn’t need to hear you idiots talk like that about Oliver Queen. I really wish I hadn’t heard your conversation, but I did. I just think that the person you are talking about is… you know, a person and he doesn’t need jerks like you talking behind his back.” Her voice comes out louder than usual.

“Hey, fuck off blondie. Are you his mother?”

“Watch your mouth!” she shouts, really annoyed. They all start laughing. Her blood boils, she squints her eyes and takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down, but then she feels a hand on her wrist and gets pulled away.

It is Oliver who pulls her away and they start walking and she feels the need to apologize. “I’m sorry, I was just trying to –“

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong, I’d have done the same thing.” he whispers, then halts. Then he turns on his heel and walks back. “I’d like to apologize for my friend, she was just trying to be nice.” he says and she watches as the patrons of the table look up and open their mouths, shocked. “I don’t care whatever you think about me, but if you ever talk about her, or any other woman in fact, like that again I’ll make sure you wish you were never born.” he says with a charming smile. “Enjoy your dinner, you dickheads, the salmon is really good.”

He grabs her hand and they walk out of the restaurant quickly. The cool in the air hits her face before she can catch her breath. His hand is warm and he laces his long fingers through hers, making her heart beat faster. “We just did that.” she mutters.

“Yeah, we did.” he says, looking right into her eyes. “I really shouldn’t have done that, though. Slade will kill me if word gets out. I was very rash.”

“You did the right thing.” she comments. “Slade will understand. Hell, anyone can understand. Nobody deserves to hear such things about themselves. I’m sure paparazzi is giving you enough trouble already, you don’t need some jerks talking behind you like that while you are having dinner.”

“Felicity, you are remarkable.” he just responds as they turn a corner, the corners of his mouth turned upwards. “What are you doing with me?”

“What are you doing with me?” she asks back tilting her head to the side, still really unsure as to why someone so famous and beautiful like him would take her, out of all the woman he could, out to dinner and hold her hand and look at her the way he does.

“I’m afraid we’re stuck with each other.”

They walk in silence for a few blocks, still holding hands, ignoring the looks they receive from people passing by. A breeze makes her shiver and he takes off his suit jacket and puts it on her shoulders. She mutters a shy thanks and enjoys how gargantuan the jackets feels on her.

Minutes later, they find themselves in front of Starling Royale. Under the large chandelier that lights up the entrance, they stop and stand in front of each other. Felicity knows it’s time to call it a night, let Oliver go to LA and out of her life and return to her boring life in IT. Oliver, on the other hand, seems to have other plans.

“Would you like to come upstairs?” he blurts out and she can swear he looks nervous.

“There are lots of reasons why I shouldn’t.” she replies, ready to take off his jacket and hand it back. “I mean, to start with, it's late and my car is on the other side of town and we had drinks and I'm on my period... not that you needed to know that. I can say the worst things.” she pauses. “There are a lot of reasons.”

“There are lot of reasons.” he repeats and looks down at his feet. She takes the chance to take the jacket off. “Do you wanna come up?” he asks again, the look on his face hopeful. He looks into her eyes and she finds herself nodding. “Give me five minutes.” he says and rushes inside, not without looking back at her with a smile.

Giddy with excitement and also somehow nervous due to uncertainty, she takes her allotted time to check up on her make-up and her breath and takes the same elevator she took just the day before, which feels like a lifetime ago, to his floor. She knocks on the door and a second later, Oliver opens it. She reaches and kisses his cheek. “Just doing that feels surreal.” she admits.

“You need to go.”

“What?” she questions, confused.

“My girlfriend who was supposed to be in Tokyo is in fact in the bathroom.”

She feels like she is kicked in the stomach and just chastises herself mentally for being so stupid. “Your… girlfriend?” she mutters and looks at him. He looks so sad and guilty that she can’t come up with another thing to say. Then she hears her.

“Ollie, baby, who is it?”

Laurel Lance, the top model who has seen gracing the pages of magazines and various fashion shows comes to the door wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her slender body. Felicity can’t help but feel the jealousy taking over and just stares at her. She watches as Oliver turn and look at her, open his mouth and fail to answer. She takes over. “Room service.” she says.

“Oh? I always thought you wore those maid costumes.” she comments, running her hand through her wet hair. “I once dressed as a slutty maid for Halloween. I’m glad Ollie didn’t know me back then.” she walks over to Oliver and rests her head on his shoulder. She is exactly his size and doesn’t have to reach on her toes to get to his level even when she is barefoot. “Could you get me some really cold ginger ale? The organic kind of ginger ale, not those brand name sodas.” she asks. “And also, please take the trash out and adios those dirty dishes, too.”

“Laurel, she was just about to leave, we can’t ask her.” Oliver says. “I don’t think it’s her job.”

Felicity ignores him and walks inside. “It’s fine.” she says and grabs the tray with the dirty dishes.

“What’s your name?” Laurel Lance asks.

“Meghan.” she replies, opting for her middle name. Without looking at the either of them, she picks up the tray and makes her way out of the room.

“Meghan.” Laurel Lance says and Felicity stops. “Thank you.” she adds and hands her a twenty-dollar bill. Felicity grabs the money and leaves without looking back and leaves Oliver Queen behind as a bad memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had written the first part of the chapter last weekend but was running out of inspiration to continue. Today I'm rather in pain and at home and just wrote the rest in an hour. Hope you all like it. Many, many thanks for all your comments and kudos!


	4. Chapter 4

She sits in the empty movie theater, a large bag of pop-corn on her lap, tears in her eyes. The movie isn’t even a sad one. Actually it’s quite stupid, it involves Nazis but also an American soldier who is in love with a German girl but instead goes and has an affair with her mother, which she thinks is gross, who is a Nazi. The mother is also related to Hitler. She should be laughing when the mother tries to seduce the American soldier with German words which he doesn’t understand, but instead she feels the tears finally down on her cheek.

It doesn’t help that the American soldier is played by Oliver Queen.

The movie score seems out of place, there are more plot holes than she can care to count, she is sure she has seen the mic on scene twice. Yet she just cries and has to take her glasses off because they blur her vision. The empty theater allows her to sniff as loudly as she wants to.

It doesn’t also help that she really doesn’t know why she is crying. The movie is obviously nothing to cry over. And she really shouldn’t be crying over a relationship that never was. It was too good to be true and it was over before it could even start. Ordinary people like her never had happy endings with famous people, it was a fairy tale. A fairy tale that she really couldn’t believe. Not that she ever believed in fairy tales; when little girls were read fairy tales where the poor but beautiful girl was saved by the charming prince, Donna Smoak was the one who would just leave her with the neighbors who wouldn’t bother to tuck her in while she worked.

The credits roll and she cries again when she sees his name on the big screen, then she shrugs and grabs the now empty popcorn bag and gets out. She avoids looking at the posters that features his face and drives home. She hopes to find the apartment empty so that she can listen to sad heartbreak songs and cry some more over her pint of mint chip, but Barry is there, sitting on the couch, his arms crossed.

“This is an intervention.” he says. “You’re going to sit down and tell me what’s going on with you. You’ve been a mess this last month.”

She wonders why it took Barry so long to do such a thing remembering the intervention from last year when she was obsessing over the XK-15 processor. Having Barry along with Diggle in her living room, talking to her about how she shouldn’t be mentioning the processor in every sentence was humiliating enough. She is thankful for the locks she installed in her room so that Barry doesn’t see the XK-15 processor shrine she has, with candles and pictures, for something that’s not even out yet for another year. She wants to avoid this intervention and just go to her room and stay under covers, but Barry doesn’t allow her and blocks the staircase.

“Come on, it’s me. You can tell me.”

She sighs and collapses on the couch. “This is going to be very awkward to tell you since we used to date.” she starts.

“I don’t care, as long as you spare me the gory details.” Barry says with a smile.

“There is this guy.” she says.

“Uh-huh.” Barry nods. “I’ve been getting a male vibe.”

Felicity can’t help but chuckle at his comment. “He is someone who… can’t be mine.” she admits. Saying it out louds seems to relieve her, even for a moment. “And it’s as if I’ve taken love heroin. Not that I’ve ever done heroin. Or any drugs in particular. My only encounter with drugs was with a pot brownie my freshman year. By mistake! Which could have been fun, except I'm allergic to nuts.” she blurts out, then puts her elbows on her thighs and sighs. “Anyways, I feel like I’ve opened Pandora’s box and there is trouble inside.”

Barry nods again then leans back on the armchair he is sitting at. “Tricky.” he says. “It’s like Iris and I. She makes me feel like I’m high. I haven’t even seen her box, if you know what I mean.”

She curls her lip and turns away from him. “Thank you, very helpful.” she comments and gets on her feet.

Two weeks later, Diggle invites her over for dinner. “You didn’t know he had a girlfriend?” he asks while she chews on a piece of steak.

“No.” Felicity admits. “Did you?” she asks and looks at their faces. “Great! My life is ruined because I don’t like BuzzFeed.”

“Oliver is a Greek God.” Lyla comments. “You know what happens when mortals get involved with gods.”

She thinks about her comment and realizes that it was exactly what she was constantly unsure around Oliver, always doubting herself as to why he wanted to be involved with her. She also realizes that it’s water under bridge now and that she should move on.

“Don’t worry, I have a solution to your problem.” Lyla offers as she takes a sip from her wine. “His name is Floyd and he is our next door neighbor.”

Thus starts the whirlwind month of dates Lyla and Diggle set her up with. There is first Floyd who wears too much hair gel and who seems to be too interested in guns. There is Edward who is almost old enough to be her father and who makes her innuendoes sound like things kids say in comparison with his own perverse talk. There is Billy, a customer from Tech Village who may or may not be wanted for murder in Germany. There is Maseo who is a family friend of Lyla and Diggle who kisses her sloppily upon meeting because he thinks it would break the ice. There is Ray who almost keeps up with her techno jargon, is tall, dark and handsome, who admits to stalking her outside Tech Village and brings up wanting to have children, a girl and a boy with her hair and smile too early during the date.

By the end of her date with Adam who walks her to Lyla and Diggle’s house and plants a goodbye kiss to her cheek, she gives up.

“It was nice.” she admits as she sits opposite to the two. “You don’t know how lucky the situation you two have. You met each other, couldn’t be without each other, couldn’t make it at first then got back together and now you have a baby. Apart from the Greek God, I never actually fell in love. I live together with my ex-boyfriend who is still in love with the same girl he broke up with me for. My college boyfriend broke up with me claiming I was too nerdy.” she admits with a nervous laugh. “Apart from you three, I don’t have anyone. Hell, I haven’t seen my mother in years.”

“Felicity, you are loved and it will get better.” Diggle says, reaching out to hold her hands. “You are the smartest person I know, you are funny and beautiful. Any guy who doesn’t appreciate it is a moron.”

“Too bad you are already married.” Felicity says playfully. “I thought one guy finally saw me for who I was, but I was too ordinary to fit into his world. He is dating a freaking supermodel and I’m plain Felicity the IT girl.”

“You’re hardly plain.” Lyla says. “I wish Diggle had a brother for you to marry.”

Felicity laughs. “I wish I had a time travel machine so I could get his parents to make another baby.” she says then sighs. “I’ll find myself thirty years from now, still sitting on this couch, still single and unlucky with guys.”

“Do you wanna stay over?” Diggle asks and she complies. In the morning over breakfast, she watches as the small family show their love for another in the smallest ways. Her heart aches as they laugh and play with their baby and plant kisses all over her face and each other. She leaves with Diggle to work and has another uneventful day.

Then she gets in her car.

She doesn’t notice it first, the thing, or rather the person hidden behind her on the backseat as she puts her keys into the ignition to start the engine. She checks the rearview mirror and then sees something move from the corner of her eye and shrieks.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Felicity.” she hears a muffled voice then turns back and sees a face covered with a baseball hat.

“Oliver, what are you doing here?” she asks, trying to calm down her racing heart. “Why are you hiding in my car? Are you going to kill me?”

“No.” he protests. Even though he scared her, she can’t help but laugh at how squished up he looks at the backseat of her car given how big he is and how small the space in her car is. “I’m hiding from the paparazzi. They followed me and I was able to ditch them a few blocks away.” he answers. “Can you drive me to a hotel or somewhere?”

Felicity doesn’t think and starts the engine. She drives them for a short while and then stops. “Come on.” she reaches to the backseat and nudges his pulled up knee.

She waits as he gets out of the car, his cap still on despite the darkness of the night with his head down and urges him to follow her. She unlocks the door and shouts Barry’s name but just like she expected given how he needed to be at the office, there is no response and she locks the door behind them.

She makes a move to clear the clutter away, but then she realizes it’s already hopeless so she just stops and watches as Oliver takes in everything. He doesn’t seem to mind the mess, which she appreciates, and instead looks around curiously, taking in every bit of detail. He seems to focus most on the various photos and magnets they have on the fridge and a smile forms on his face. Then he stops and looks at her and probably realizing her confusion about the whole ordeal, he hesitantly sits on the armchair.

“I just didn’t know where else to go.” he starts and takes of his baseball cap finally. He takes a deep breath and runs his hand through his hair. “I had a one-night stand with this girl years ago, just when I was starting in the business. Yesterday she went to the press saying that her son is mine. I’m sure it’s not mine, but she insists and the paparazzi is just all over the story. I was in the city to shoot my new movie and they wouldn’t just leave me alone. I had to disguise myself to get out of the hotel but they found it out and they’ve been following me ever since. I know it’s not an excuse to break into your car and barge back into your life, but I didn’t know where else to go.”

Felicity just listens, nodding her head along. She can see tears forming in his eyes and the scene just breaks her heart. She should have every right to be angry at him, for lying to her, for breaking into her car, for breaking her heart, but as she watches him sinking further into the armchair, looking so guilty and sad, a similar look he had given her that night when beautiful Laurel Lance walked over to her, she can’t help but feel sad for him and despite everything, she wants to help.

“It was just a stupid lie but she sold her story and now it’s everywhere.” he adds. “I know it’s been a while…”

“This is the place.” Felicity says and reaches out to him. She places her hand on his clasped ones and looks into his eyes. “You can stay here.”

“She gave this details about how I am during… you know, and other girls came out and now…” Oliver starts.

“Don’t think about it.” she cuts in. “We’ll figure it out.” She gives him a genuine smile. “I can go hack the websites that published the story, take the whole thing off.” she suggests. “And you weren’t supposed to know about that. Never mind, pretend I didn’t say anything.” She fixes her glasses. “I was going to order take out, what would you like?”

That’s how Felicity Smoak ends up having an impromptu picnic with Oliver Queen on her living room floor.

They sit on a green and white checkered blanket she lays on the floor with the boxes of takeout between the two of them. It’s innocent and something two friends would do, something easy and uncomplicated, but Oliver and her, they aren’t friends, not really. She knows they are not friends. They haven’t known each other that long though. She doesn’t know what exactly they are either. They can be a clerk and a customer or just two people who kissed and went on two dates in two days, having the latter end in disaster.

For all intents and purposes, she comes to the conclusion that they just happen to be two acquaintances who kissed in two separate occasions and one of them is a plain IT girl and the other is a world-famous movie star.

It doesn’t change how he still looks at her though. Oliver looks at her from where he is sitting at the other end of the blanket and she feels… special. She realizes that he is someone who gets paid for emoting on cue, for faking any kind of emotion, but even he can’t be that good of an actor to emote what he is doing. He looks at her with kindness, admiration and something else that she can only characterize as longing and even though she is still angry at him, still confused about his reappearance in her life, she just blushes and smiles shyly and eats another piece of her sweet and sour chicken.

A while later, Oliver excuses himself to take a shower and she goes to her room to clean things up and find extra linens for him. She doesn’t hear Barry getting into the townhouse, going to the guest bathroom, seeing Oliver Queen brushing his teeth, jumping in his place out of excitement then leaving the townhouse.

Oliver doesn’t let her displace herself from her own bedroom so he sleeps on the couch in the living room downstairs which he later admits was a first for him and she sleeps in her room in her regular pajamas, not losing any sleep over the fact that a Hollywood star is sleeping under the same roof as her. In the morning, she makes them pancakes while Oliver helps with the coffee and they sit down and eat.

“I’m really sorry about the last time.” Oliver starts. “She just flew in, I had no idea. We had broken up weeks ago but were keeping appearances for publicity. We were dating for publicity in the first place.”

“It’s fine.” she brushes him off. “It’s not everyday that I get to take away dirty dishes of beautiful super models.” She takes a sip from her coffee. “So, how is she?” she asks nonchalantly.

Oliver sighs. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since. I’m not seeing anyone.” he says with a smile. “I’ve thought about you. A lot.” She gets up from the table to pick up some more coffee and turns her back to him. “I’m so sorry. I thought that I could be me and the Oliver Queen persona that is on the magazine pages but I couldn’t.”

“I appreciate that.” Felicity says, turning and leaning against the counter. “But I think there is a flaw in your thinking. You are who you are and so you being famous is going to mean that you’re just going to ignore everything else and do whatever the media wants you to do? That’s just not right.” she starts. “I mean, I get it, I really do, you are literally hiding here from the media because they have a fake story about you but that really shouldn’t stop you from how you want to live your life. You should also consider how that life affects others, too.” she blurts out and then exhales. “So, what is that new movie you are about to shoot?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and for all your comments! So yeah, Oliver isn't a huge dick. If you watched the movie, you know what's coming up next.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mature content ahead.

She finds out later in the day that her babbling is actually good for something: she is excellent at practicing lines. She throws line after line at Oliver, usually finds him defenseless and not ready and trying to come up with his own lines and failing miserably. Oliver assures her that while he has a good memory, he is terrible at remembering scripts and usually surrounds himself with cue cards before shooting a scene. After two hours of practicing, he gives up and instead offers to just sit down and listen to some music at the small patio in the backyard.

“You know, you should do something other than action movies.” she offers as she brings her beer to her lips. “You’re getting typecast, you’re way better than playing the guy who is bent on getting revenge and kicking butts. You do have the chops, you should just show them off. Not your chops, like your arms and muscles, I meant your acting chops.” she pauses. “Do a biopic.”

“What would you suggest?” he asks, intent on listening to her.

“I don’t know.” she shrugs. “Maybe like Errol Flynn? I wouldn’t know if there is a movie based on his life in the works or something, but I’ve always been a fan of his. I remember watching his Robin Hood movie as a little girl and just being obsessed with it. He was doing his stunts himself as far as I know, like you do.” she starts. “I’m pretty sure you can hold a bow and wear some green tights. Not to play Robin Hood but to play Errol playing Robin Hood. I don’t know, I’m just hyperbolizing here. I can’t even pretend to know how Hollywood works.”

“I saw the Robin Hood poster in the hall, I thought it was your roommate’s.” Oliver comments.

“It’s mine. I’ve had it since college, was the first thing I brought to this house.”

“It’s a good movie.” he comments then they remain silent for a while.

Felicity lays back and enjoys her day off. Due to the lack of staff, her days off are getting rarer and rarer and she is happy to enjoy any time off she can get. Especially when she can get to spend it with Oliver in her backyard, enjoying the warm weather. She wiggles her toes and holds them towards the sun. She turns to see Oliver following suit.

“You have big feet.” she comments.

Oliver smiles. “Yes. Always have had.”

She smiles back. “You know what they say about men with big feet? Big feet...” she starts, biting her lip.

“Yes?”

“Big feet… big penis.” she blurts out then starts laughing. “Shit, I didn’t mean to say that. I mean, yes they do say that but I didn’t want to insinuate that you have a big penis. I mean, you probably do, because look at you, you are huge so it should be proportional.” she stops. “Oh god, why am I talking about your penis? I’m so sorry.”

Oliver just laughs and a deep cackle comes out that makes her laugh. “You have very colorful toenails.” he says, trying to divert the conversation, focusing on her toenails that are each painted with a different color while still laughing. “It’s pretty.”

“Do you have a weird feet fetish that I should be aware of?”

“Well, you started the whole feet thing.” Oliver responds, gaping.

It gets a little chilly so she suggest they go inside and start preparing dinner. Oliver is more than happy to cooperate and helps her out like a sous chef, cleaning and chopping and mixing and tasting as they go and prepare the meal.

“You’re pretty good in the kitchen.” Felicity comments once she tastes the soup Oliver prepares on his own. “This is amazing.”

“I grew up with maids in our house. My mother was too busy socializing to look after me.” he starts as he brings plates to the table. “Raisa, the head maid, she technically raised me and taught me everything she knew in the kitchen. “I can make a decent _okroshka._ She is Russian, she fled from the country during the Cold War.”

“She sounds nice.” Felicity says as they take their seats. “My neighbors raised me since my mom was working two jobs to provide for us after my dad left.” The words leave her mouth before she can realize and she feels awkward for sharing something so personal. All previous boyfriends and love interests in her life have always ignored her whenever she brought up her past, not that she brings it up much. Then she looks at Oliver and he just takes in every word she says and looks like he is thirsty for more.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” he responds. “It’s his loss if he let you out of his life.”

“Thanks.” she replies. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, probably.” she adds shyly.

“I highly doubt that.” Oliver remarks. The topic moves on from childhood stories to Oliver’s alleged love child. “I mean, yes, I was a mess back when I started, but I am positive that I didn’t get her pregnant. And even if I somehow did, I wish she’d told about it to me first instead of just going to the newspapers like that.”

“Maybe someone forced her to do it?” Felicity reasons. “I don’t know, it must be hard for her to do something like that… unless she wanted her 15-minute of fame so badly. I mean, I wouldn’t want that. Not that fame is something bad, it’s working for you.”

“Believe me, I’d give all it up if I could.” Oliver mumbles as he gets on his feet and takes the dirty plates to the sink. “There are way better things in life.”

“Why don’t you give it up then?” she asks, curious, as she fills in their wine glasses.

“Contracts.” he simply responds. “It’s like selling your soul to the devil.”

“Like Doctor Faust. Now, that’s another good role for you, maybe on Broadway?” she teases. “I’m kidding. Not the role though, that’d be amazing.” she says. “Isn’t there a way to get out of the contracts?”

“Not at least for a few years.” he responds.

“So you’re not gonna live your life until then? You’re just gonna abide by your contracts, do what your publicist tells you to do, postpone anything you want to do for your life and just live in this persona?”

The discussion doesn’t go any further and they settle to watching some TV while finishing their drinks. She immediately skips channels running gossip news but he still catches a glimpse of himself on the screen. He ignores it and opts to watch Felicity with determination in her face as she searches for something they can watch. She huffs and shrugs.

“Usually when we run out of things to watch on TV, my roommate puts in a movie of yours.” she admits, blushing. He thinks she looks beautiful with the blush. “Obviously we don’t need to do that.”

“I can act them out for you?” he offers. “Choose a movie of mine and I’ll summarize it for you, even throw in a few stunt moves.”

“Will you do that for me?” she asks, sounding so cheerful. He decides that he would do anything for her in order to hear her voice like that again.

So they start with “What Happens in Russia”, his first lead role, playing a CIA agent infiltrating the Russian mafia to avenge his sister’s death and he recites some of his key lines, throws punches into the air, curses in Russian and finishes off by jumping over the couch she sits on as an attempt to recreate the last scene where he jumps away from an explosion. They continue with two movies and Felicity is laughing so hard that she needs to excuse herself to the bathroom. He is willing to act out all of his movies, even his few lame commercials from his earlier days to hear her laugh.

When she comes back, her face is still red and wet. “That was fun.” she says as she hops down on the couch next to him. She then eyes their empty wine glasses and gets back on her feet. She picks up the bottle and the glasses and goes to the kitchen, he follows. They settle into a routine and wash the dishes in a silent agreement. He dries the dishes off and gives them to her put them in their places in the cabinets.

“I need to go to bed, I am working tomorrow.” she announces when they are finished.

“Alright.” he nods, taking his cue to go to the living room, to the sofa where he’ll be sleeping. He picks up the same linens and pillows he slept on from where he folded and placed them in the morning and Felicity helps him lay them down. Once they are done, Felicity smiles at him, then places a quick peck on his cheek and goes upstairs.

Upstairs in her room, Felicity changes into her pajamas and gets under the covers, but sleep never comes. In the dark, she relays the events of the day, the feel of his stubble under her lips as she kissed his cheek. She presses a finger on her lips, then turns to her side.

She hears a knock on her door. Her heart skips a beat. She sits on the bed, resting her back on the headboard and with a quiet voice, she says “Come in.”

It’s Barry. She hides her disappointment and he jumps on her bed. “Why is Oliver Queen sleeping on our couch? How do you know him?” he asks, his voice louder than she prefers. “Can he sign my DVDs? This is too exciting!”

“Barry, I’ll tell you everything in the morning.” she hushes him. “I really need to sleep and it’s kind of a long story.” she collapses back on her bed. “Just go to sleep.”

Barry doesn’t say anything and leaves, slamming the door behind him. She curses under her breath and tosses to her other side, punching one of her five pillows. She closes her eyes and wills sleep to come soon.

There is another knock on her door and she shouts. “For fuck’s sake Barry, go to sleep.”

A different voice murmurs from the other side of the door. “Sorry, good night.”

She jumps to her feet, grabs her glasses and rushes to the door. “Oliver, wait.” she whispers when Oliver is about to make his way down the stairs. “I thought you were Barry.” Oliver turns on his heels and walks toward her. “Come on in.” she says and steps aside.

She ignores the butterflies she feels in her stomach given it’s been ages since a guy other than Barry has seen the inside of her room and she is in her pajamas featuring cupcakes, sans make-up. She turns on her bedside lamp and Oliver takes the opportunity to look around, taking in everything like he did with the rest of the house. His eyes land on the unlit candles and the picture she has on her vanity table and she runs there to try to cover it with her body, but it’s too late.

“It’s my shrine to the XK-15 processor.” she admits, still trying to hide it. “It won’t be commercially available until the end of next year, but I want it and I thought building a shrine would help.” she tries to explain. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s endearing.” he beams. Then the next thing she knows, his lips are upon hers. He places his hands on her waist and pulls her closer to him and she is more than willing to do so. She presses into him, hips against hips as she stands on her toes, his lips still on hers, her hands up on the back of his head, clasped. She opens her mouth slightly and he takes the invitation and his tongue slips in and the action takes her aback and she takes a step back, only to hit the vanity table.

She curses lightly under her breath when his mouth moves down to her neck momentarily, then he laughs and kisses her on the mouth again. She can feel him smile through the kiss. Her hands wander down, to his back and she feels his muscles ripple underneath her fingers. With a brave move, she tugs the ends of his shirt and runs her hands upwards underneath his shirt, over his skin, enjoying the slight moan it brings to his mouth.

He takes the hint and breaks the kiss for a second to take off the shirt and throw it away somewhere in the room. She smiles in victory and takes charge, pushes him back lightly so that he takes a step back into the direction of the bed. She continues pushing until the back of his knees hit the bed and he loses his balance and falls on to the bed, pulling her along with him. She lands on him and starts laughing. He starts laughing as well, as he lies on his back with his legs apart and with her in between them, lying haphazardly over him.

“Hush, Barry is sleeping.” she chides with a finger over his lips, still laughing. He takes the opportunity to kiss her finger, then leans forward to kiss her lips. She reciprocates immediately, leans on her arms by the sides of his head to get into a comfortable position.

He places his very big palm on her back and she feels herself burning under his touch and enjoys it when his hand goes under her top. She pushes herself off him, kneels, still between his legs, and begins unbuttoning the top, but he pushes her hands away and starts with the top button, looking into her eyes, never breaking contact. “You’re so beautiful.” he whispers.

She makes a move to remove her glasses when Oliver takes her top off her. The top joins his discarded shirt on the floor. He stops her so her glasses remain and instead he gets on his knees on the bed, opposite to her and starts kissing her jaw, her neck, her collar bones, then moves down and kisses the top of her breasts peeking out from her bralette. She is glad that she had the sense to wear her black lace one and not the other white one she prefers and then loses her train of thought when he moves to her abdomen, leaving kisses as he goes and his hands comes to the waistband of her pajamas.

He looks at her as if to ask permission as he hooks his fingers on the waistband and proceeds when she nods. She helps him takes off her pajama bottom and her black boyshorts along with them and then he gently pushes her on the bed so that she is lying and he moves down, stopping at her thighs, placing kisses on them, never breaking eye contact.

Never having been the receiving end of an oral, Felicity tenses a bit when Oliver nudges her knees apart delicately and settles himself between them. He feels her nervousness and massages her calves to relax her, then starts kissing her ankles, taking his time with each, moves upwards to her knees and then with the gentlest move, he places her legs on his shoulders. Just the action makes her warm in her belly and wet.

His stubble tickles the sensitive skin as he moves to her inner thighs and she wonders briefly whether she will have marks in the morning as she feels the skin get red. He locks onto her eyes and she bites her lips. He places little kisses as he goes, then he bows down and places his lips on her slit and she moans at the initial contact. That brings a cackle out of him. He licks the area in one, almost never ending stroke and she clenches her bed covers. Then he brings his fingers and parts the labia. He locates her clit and she is gone. She picks up one of her pillows and buries her head under it to muffle down her moans as he circles her clit with his tongue.

She tries to control her breathing and avoid suffocating herself accidentally, but it almost is an impossible task. His lips, his tongue, his hot breath, his stubble feel incredible and the formerly unfamiliar sensations feel wonderful and she shakes her hips, reaches out to his head and grasps his short hair when he puts not one but two fingers inside of her. With one, two, three strokes and with his mouth still on her clit, she screams against the pillow as her orgasm hits. That is how she ends up having her first real orgasm in years, with Oliver Queen going down on her. That isn’t the only orgasm she has over the course of the night.

When she is finally able to calm down and catch her breath, she lifts the pillow and looks down to see Oliver looking at her with a victorious smile, his cheeks flushed, his hair in disarray. She takes her legs of his shoulders and crawls towards him on the bed. She places one hand on his neck and pulls him towards her, then plants her lips against his. She lays back on the bed and pulls him on top of her, runs her hands on his back then helps him take his sweat pants off, never stopping smiling.

She learns that she was right about his feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was my first ever smutty scene ever. I wasn't going to do it, then as I wrote, I couldn't help myself. Thank you all for your kudos and comments.
> 
> And thanks to stars-inthe-sky especially for reading this beforehand and giving feedback even though she doesn't even watch Arrow (despite all my efforts)!


	6. Chapter 6

She knows that she needs to get up and get ready soon in order to get to work on time, but she is lying next to Oliver Queen in bed, naked and he has a mischievous look on his face. He looks at her like he wants to devour her, like the many times he did over the night, and she forgets all about morning breath and bed hair and the urge to pee. Her head is on the spot where his neck meets his shoulders and he is running circles with his index finger on her arm. She has never felt more content.

“Do you really need to go?” he asks, his voice hoarse.

“I don’t have anyone to back me up today.” she responds. “You can stay though. You can stay forever.” He leans down and places a kiss on top of her head. “I think those women on the magazines weren’t being truthful.” she says, a blush creeping on her cheeks. “Their stories can’t even compete with the reality.”

Oliver is enamored by the fact that she can still blush after everything they did over the night. “Is that a bad thing?” he asks cheekily.

“Nope.” she says. “They were underselling. Definitely underselling.” That grants her a sloppy kiss on the lips.

“Better than the vibrator?” he asks, teasingly.

She slaps his shoulder. “Oh my god, how do you even remember that?” she starts laughing. “Yes, it was. No battery could replace.”

“Glad to hear that. It all depends on the partner, though.” he admits. “All about compatibility.”

“Well,” she starts, biting her lip, a habit he realizes that makes her look sexier. “I’m glad we’re compatible because I liked everything very much. It was surreal, but very real.”

He laughs at her comment, a variation of what she told him two other times. “You stay here, I’ll be right back.” He quickly places a peck on her lips, finds his sweatpants on the floor, puts them on while she watches in appreciation and leaves the room after glancing at her with a smile.

While he is gone, she takes the opportunity to get rid of the four used condoms on the floor and puts her hair in a ponytail, then settles back in the bed, still unable to believe everything that happened. She is sore in the right places, probably has hickeys on her neck and breasts. She doesn’t care. She is so happy, and to be honest, satiated that she is ready to proudly show off her hickeys.

When Oliver doesn’t come back for more than ten minutes, she decides to put on her clothes and go downstairs to find him, but just as she is about to get out of the bed, the door opens and Oliver comes in carrying a tray of food and walks towards her with a grin that continues to do things to her ovaries.

“Shit, I forgot strawberry jam.” Oliver says as he places the tray next to her on bed. “I assume you like it because there were 3 jars of it? You do smell like strawberries.”

She leans to kiss him lightly on the lips, but gets interrupted when the doorbell rings. “Barry is asleep. You get the jam, I’ll go get the door.” she suggests. “Hand me that shirt.” she points to his shirt on the floor. She quickly wears her boy shorts, buttons up the shirt and runs downstairs to get the door. She glimpses at Oliver as he goes through the pantry, standing only in his boxers, then goes to open the door.

Big mistake.

Hundreds of flashes go off the second she opens the door and stands in Oliver’s shirt, her legs bare, her hair messy. Her idyllically quiet and empty street is full of strangers she doesn’t know with cameras and smart phones. She stares in shock as flashes continue, then enters back inside the townhouse quickly, not really processing what happened. She rests her back on the door, lets out the breath she didn’t know she was holding and slowly slips to the floor.

“Who is it?” Oliver comes. She starts shaking her head but words doesn’t come out and he gets concerned. Ignoring her, he goes around and cracks open the door and shoots his head out to see who is on the side of the door.

He takes less time in the outside world. He slams the door and their eyes meet, but both remain silent. They both know what just happened.

It’s her who first moves. She gets on her feet and rushes to the stair case and shouts at the top of her lungs. “Barry, what the fuck did you do?”

Oliver comes next to her, places a hand on her shoulder, but she shakes it off, fuming. She doesn’t look at him. She taps her feet, bites her thumbnail, refuses to look at Oliver who just stands quietly next to her.

Barry finally comes down the stairs, his hair messy and with one eye closed. “Why are you yelling so early in the morning?” he asks, yawning.

“Barry, what the fuck did you do?” she repeats her question. “There are a billion people outside. Who did you tell?” she shouts.

“Oh.” Barry reacts, hitting himself on the forehead. “I had a beer after you told me to go to bed.”

“And?” she shouts again, knitting her eyebrows.

“And I might have drunkenly tweeted that I have a super star in my living room, though I now realize he didn’t spend the night on the couch after all.”

Felicity rushes at him and throws a punch at him in the stomach, then continues to her room. Oliver quickly follows, coming after her and places both hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

“Don’t touch me.” she says. “I’m officially the slut of Starling City. Everyone on the internet knows I slept with Oliver Queen.” she cries. “Of all the things, the fact that I finally got laid after the longest dry spell got me famous. Never thought that’d happen.”

“Felicity, it’s just the internet.” Oliver responds.

“Just the internet?” she shouts. “It’ll forever stay there. My name will show up on Google now! I was a no body, now I’m the slut who slept with you.” she stabs at his chest with her finger, then begins picking up the discarded clothes on the floor. “They’re going to call you a hero for banging yet another chick, but I’m going to be chastised for this for the rest of my life. That’s just how the world works.” She throws the clothes at him. “Just go.”

“Felicity, I’m sorry.” Oliver says in all his honesty. She meets his eyes and sees the honesty there, but she is just too angry and wounded that it does nothing for her. “I didn’t mean any of this to happen.”

“I get it.” she nods. “It was a mistake. I was a mistake.” she mutters, then takes a breath. “Well, look at the bright side, they’ll just forget about your whole love child thing now.”

In less than twenty minutes, Oliver Queen leaves her house, followed by an ashamed Barry who she also asks to leave with her angry voice, then she grabs a tub of mint chocolate chip ice-cream and cries in her bed.

 

Sara Diggle’s second birthday takes place in the same park she once trespassed and she plays with the toddler who chases after her. She laughs as the toddler fails to say her name correctly and then rolls on the grass next to her. Both of their pastel dresses get stained, but she is too happy to care, and she looks over at John and Lyla and they are too lost in each other’s eyes to care, either.

After ten more minutes of running and rolling, Felicity becomes breathless and Diggle gives her a knowing look and she knows that he is thinking about how she should exercise more, but being the goodhearted man he is, instead of giving her a lecture, he brings out the cake. The birthday girl replaces her plastic tiara with a party hat and manages to blow out her big number-two candle as they all sing her a happy birthday.

John sits next to her on the grass as she eats her piece of cake. “So glad to have you here, Felicity.” he starts. “We haven’t seen much of you lately.”

“I missed you guys, thank you for inviting me.” she responds. “Work has been hectic. I never knew going freelance would completely take over my schedule.”

“That was what you wanted. I’m happy for you.” John says. “We miss you at the store, but that place was holding you down.”

“You are saying that just because you like me.” she teases as she lightly bumps her shoulder against his. “I miss the store, too. And you. It gets too lonely working from home, I miss our coffee times.”

“I’m sure you get all the caffeine you need at home.” Diggle comments. “You look happy.”

“I’m happy.” she admits. “I’m sorry I was a weepy pain in the ass for so long though. It wasn’t a good look for me.”

“I’m glad you got over it.” Diggle comments as Lyla comes to join them on the grass.

“Are you talking about Oliver Queen being back in town?” she asks with a sheepish smile, ignoring the rather murderous look her husband gives. “Not that I care, but some students in my class were talking about seeing him filming downtown.”

As someone who tried her best to forget about the said actor, she feels a sudden rush of warmth taking over her body at the mention of the name. She hates that no matter how hurt she was and how humiliating the next two months were after their one and only night until the media and the internet forgot about her, she still has feelings for him. She sometimes thinks about the way he looked at her that day, the things he whispered in her ear as he moved inside of her, how devastated he looked as she asked him to leave. She knows that no matter how hurt she was, he will always have a place in her heart. She hates that, too.

She knows how her face must look like, so she isn’t surprised at all when Lyla is the one to admit: “You aren’t still really over him, are you?”

“He gave me four orgasms in one night, it’s not something you can forget easily.” she finally admits, ignoring the look of horror on Diggle’s face. “I tried really hard, but I think I need closure. I mean, technically it wasn’t his fault that my stupid old roommate is an idiot. I just want to talk to him and get over it.”

“More like under him.” Lyla mutters, sipping from her drink.

An online search gives her all the shooting locations for a movie called “The Green” which she thinks is a fake name. She decides on the locations that are closest to each other and gives herself a break for a day and drives downtown.

The first two locations on her map turn out to be busts, but she sees trailers parked at the third location. She goes next to one of the production guys standing with a headset and a cup of coffee. The tall guy ignores her initially, then gives her a menacing look. “Can I help you with something?” he asks.

“Yeah, I was looking for Oliver Queen. I needed to talk to him about something.” she responds, then realizes that the guy probably hears similar requests from fangirls throughout the day. “I know him, I’m actually a friend.” she adds, but that probably makes her sound like a stalker.

Just as she is about to give up and turn on her heel, one of the trailers’ door open and Oliver Queen walks out wearing green tights and a white shirt with a green hat. He is talking to someone, but then turns his head and their eyes meet. They glance at each other for a moment under the looks of some curious bystanders, then he lifts his hand as an attempt to wave at her, but then drops it and instead starts walking towards her. Ignoring the production guy, she walks, too.

“Hi.” he starts, smiling. “I was going to call, but things have been crazy.”

“I just heard you were in town yesterday.” she responds, feeling a little out of breath.

“Things aren’t going very well. It’s our last day. And I need to do a Reddit thing in an hour because apparently that’s now a thing.” he says quickly. Someone calls out his name and they both turn to see Slade Wilson, the same man she saw a year ago, tapping on his wristwatch to motion Oliver to hurry up.

“You’re clearly very busy.” she says, not looking at him. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

“I can come meet you after doing Reddit.” Oliver offers. She thinks he sounds too excited and nervous. “If you’d like to. You can stay watch us shoot, too.”

She nods her head. “I’ll stay for a bit.”

A herd of serious looking people take Oliver away, then the production guy hands her a headset. “What movie is this?” she asks as he leads her towards a courtyard.

“It’s an Errol Flynn biopic.”

She walks in a haze, unable to believe her ears, then realizes that they are actually filming a scene out of the Robin Hood movie she grew up with. She takes her phone out to take a photo, then see that she is in the middle of everything and is being a burden to the people around her and decides to go home to wait while Oliver does his online thing and also to work on some extra tasks she postponed.

She works for a couple of hours but then her mind gets too preoccupied with thoughts of Oliver and what she wants to tell him. She prepares mental speeches about how she felt what they had was special and that the day she spent with him was one of her best days but how she feels unsuited for his world when the internet tempts her and she logs on to Reddit.

She scrolls down, sees that the session is already over and the thread is longer than what she has seen for other celebrities. Most of the questions are about his stunt work and earlier movies, and there are a couple of question about his current movie, which he avoids answering. Reading his responses arranging from favorite movie quotes to childhood stories, all elaborate and detailed, brings a smile on her face. Then, to her astonishment, she sees her own name written in one question, followed by a response.

                   TheHuntress47: Last time you were in Starling, you crashed Twitter when you were spotted at this girl’s house – Felicity Smoak. Still together?    

                   IAmOliverQueen: No comment. She is just someone from the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't kill me yet!!! Next one is the last one and it is a happy one! Thank you all for your comments on this! I'm fulltimeprocrastinator on tumblr.


	7. Chapter 7

She is still staring at the screen when she hears her door bell ring. All types of emotions she knows that shouldn’t be around each other go around in cycles in her body. Anger. Disappointment. Jealousy. Heartbreak. They are the few to start with. She doesn’t understand it. Even after a year, seeing him again made her feel like maybe she was different, maybe he genuinely felt something for her, but the proof is before her eyes, for all the internet to see. She is still a nobody, has always been a nobody. He dates super models and other beautiful actresses and she was just a hookup for him, someone to pass time with while he was in the city.

She gets on her feet, feeling dizzy, then makes it to the door and opens it. He is standing there before her, in his casual clothes, holding a large gift box in his hands, a smile on his face. She feels like slamming the door on his face, and almost does, but he puts his foot on the side of the door.

“Hi.” he says, almost sounding out of breath. “You disappeared.”

She just looks at him and nods. “Yeah, I had to leave.”

“I called your number but somebody else answered. I guess you changed your number. I thought you might have moved, too, but then I asked my assistant to look you up. I’m sorry if that sounds too stalker-ish.” he rambles. “Sorry. Hi. How have you been?”

She takes a deep breath, tries to focus on positive things instead of just getting ready to shout at him. It doesn’t stop her lips from trembling. “I’m good.” she answers. “Pretty much the same. Same apartment. New job and phone number.”

“Oh, yeah, John told me you no longer worked at the store.” Oliver responds. “I dropped by there before.” he adds quickly. “Congratulations. I knew you were too good for that place.”

“Thanks.” she mutters. “You’ve been doing a lot of stuff yourself. Man of the year. Golden Globe nomination.”

He gives her a shy look. “It’s nothing, really. It’s all non-sense. I didn’t know how much non-sense it was, but it’s just it basically.” He sounds so honest, just the way he always seemed to be with her, and she feels conflicted. He clears his throat. “It was our last day of filming. I’m leaving.” he comments, looking down at his shoes. He starts rubbing his thumb against his index finger. “I brought this for you.” He hands her the box.

She takes the box which is heavier than she expected, then looks at him and the box. She puts it to the small table she has on her left where she usually puts her keys. “You didn’t have to.” she comments. Even when he breaks her heart time after time, he still somehow manages to bring a smile on her face.

“Don’t open it just now.” he stops her. “I’d be embarrassed.”

“I don’t know what it is for, but thanks anyways.” she remarks.

“No problem. I’ve had it for a while, but then after everything that happened, I didn’t think it was right for me to barge back into your life. Again.” He shifts on his feet. “Then you came today and I… I just thought I should bring it at least so that you’d have it.”

She puts her hand on the door knob and starts playing with it, unsure of what else to do. She is still angry, still heartbroken, but he sounds so nervous, so not very confident with himself that she accepts the fact that she just needs to hear what he is going to say before she says something herself.

“The thing is…” he starts and at that moment her cell phone starts ringing from inside the townhouse. “Your phone.” he notes.

“Don’t worry about it.” she waves her hand. “What is the thing?”

“I have to go away tomorrow, but I wondered if I didn’t.” he admits. “Maybe you’d let me see you a little? Or a lot, maybe? To see if you could like me, again.”

Her heart starts beating faster in her chest, she is sure her hands are clammy with sweat. She struggles to keep her posture. She tries to calm her frantic heart. She takes another deep breath. “I just read your Reddit. Someone asked you about me and you said I was just someone from the past.”

He laughs nervously. “You expect me to tell the truth on the internet? On Reddit, out of all the places?” he says, and her phone starts ringing again.

“Perfect timing.” she mutters under her breath then excuses herself and rushes inside to turn the phone off. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine.” he replies. “There is always a pause when the jury goes out to consider their verdict.” he smiles.

She thinks about her past year, about how much she hurt. She remembers the mental speeches she was preparing and decides to go with the plan. “Oliver…” she starts, looking at him. “I’m a really smart girl who sometimes does stupid things and says the wrong things. I’m actually a certified genius, I just don’t show it off that often. I’d never put my heart before my head before because I didn’t get much action in that area. I mean, in heart matters.” she rambles, then pauses. “Can I just say no to your kind request?”

She thinks Oliver looks devastated , but he puts on a brave face. “Yes.” he nods with a smile. “Of course.”

“My inexperienced heart can’t recover if I’m cast aside, again. I mean, there isn’t a guarantee, I don’t expect you to, but it might happen.” she comments, looking at his face. “I got a taste of what it is to be famous even if I didn't want it, and I don't think I can go through it again.” she admits. “There are too many fans of you, too many pictures of you. I live in Starling City, you live in LA. Everyone knows your name, my mom hasn’t uttered mine in years, my goddaughter can’t pronounce it.” she lets out, knowing she is doing the right thing.

“Good decision.” he responds, looking away at first, then focuses on her. “People when they meet me just ask for an autograph or a selfie.” he starts, his voice sounding calm and controlled. “When we met, you didn’t care about who I was and you were flustered and started talking about your vibrator. You saw me as a real person, it meant a lot to me. I just wanted you to know that.”

She nods, a half-smile on her face. “Thanks.” she replies shyly.

“The fame thing isn’t real, you know. The magazine covers, the movies, they don’t mean a thing.” he shakes his head. “Don’t forget, I’m just a guy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him.” His voice is shaky, his eyes look wet and Felicity just stares at him, not knowing how to react. He takes a hesitant step and leaves a quick peck on her cheek, then points toward the gift she put aside and leaves.

She doesn’t watch him go. She closes the door slowly. She takes a step back, almost stumbles, then looks at the box. The green bow on top of it looks delicate, but she rips it and opens the box and finds herself staring at a brand new XK-16 processor, the upgraded version of the XK-15 processor she is obsessed with, something that isn’t supposed to be out for another year. Not knowing what to do, she grabs her phone, sits on the floor and turns the phone back on to call Diggle.

Half an hour later, she finds herself sitting on the sofa in the living room of the Diggle household, waiting on reactions from the couple.

“Good decision.” John says. “I offered him coffee when he came to the store and he refused. You can’t trust people who doesn’t drink coffee.”

Baby Sara looks at them with her dark brown eyes and gives smiles.

“Never trust a white boy with that much muscle.” Lyla offers, a smirk on her face.

She laughs. “So I made the right decision.” she says, placing her hands on her thighs, but doesn’t get the respond she expects, not immediately.

“That is the XK-15 processor, the one you are obsessed with right?” Lyla asks, pointing at the box at her feet.

“This is the XK-16. 15 is coming out next month, this one isn’t coming out for another year.” she answers. “I don’t know how he got his hands on it.”

Diggle starts nodding, gives her a warm smile in that brotherly way he does, then looks over to his wife. He then grabs her daughter on the floor and hugs her to his chest. The room goes silent.

“I know he is an actor and all and he gets paid to emote things on cue, but the way he said it was really cute.” she starts. “He said he was just guy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him.” The second the words come out loud from her mouth, everything crashes down and she realizes her mistake. “I made the wrong choice, didn’t I?” she asks and sees the couple and even baby Sara nod. “Diggle, how fast is your car?” she pleads.

She drives out in a haze and she is sure she breaks a couple of traffic rules, but she doesn’t care and just heads in the direction of to Starling Royale where she knows he is staying at, ignoring Diggle’s directions. In the meantime, Lyla is on her smart phone and figures out via Twitter that Oliver is currently holding a press conference, his last in the city at the hotel.

She jumps out of the car even before finding a parking spot and lets Diggle handle it while Lyla follows, holding baby Sara. She runs to the reception.

“Excuse me, where is the press conference being held at?” she asks to the receptionist, trying to catch her breath.

“Are you a certified member of the press?” the guy asks, sounding degrading.

“Oh, yes.” she answers and hold outs her phone, her twitter account on the screen.

“Ma’am, that’s your twitter account. @bitchwithwifi.” he responds. “I’m afraid we can’t let you in.”

She then hears a voice she hasn’t heard in a year. “She’s with me.” She turns around to see Barry Allen standing next to her. “I’m working for Starling City Herald.” He shows off his credentials, which she knows are fake, but she ignores the fact.

“Right.” The receptionist nods. “The conference is at the Green room, down the hall, on your left.”

She is still surprised to see Barry, and she never thought she would actually be happy to see him again but she is. She is in a rush so she gives him an awkward hug and runs to the direction of the room. She hears noises before she goes in, and then steps inside to what she can describe as a circus. There are screens and cameras, there is a head table, she can see Oliver sitting in the middle with his manager Slade Wilson on his right. Dozens of men and women are standing, shouting questions at him, flashes keep lighting up the room.

“Does this mean that Mr. Queen won’t be publicizing his Errol Flynn biopic?” she hears a question as she walks inside, trying not to disturb anyone and bring attention to herself.

“No, absolutely not. He’ll be abiding by all his present commitments, he just won’t be making another movie next year.” Slade Wilson responds, looking at Oliver. She is confused as she realizes that Oliver just announced a temporary retirement while she was trying to locate the room.

She goes through the herd of reporters standing, a constant motion in the room, and finds an empty standing space where she can have a clear look at Oliver. The rooms goes loud again as several reporters shout out to get noticed, then Slade Wilson points at a guy in a green suit and he asks a question.

“I’m from Vertigo Magazine. Mr. Queen, how much longer are you staying in Starling City?”

“I’m leaving tonight.” Oliver replies to the microphone, his voice stern.

“Which is why we have to round things up now.” Slade adds. “Final questions, please.”

A woman from the front row asks a question. “Is your decision to take a year off has anything to do with the announcement that your alleged love child isn’t actually yours?”

“Absolutely not.” Oliver responds. “As I explained last year, those were false rumors. I know how much you all want rumors to become true, so I’m sorry to disappoint.”

Laughter erupts in the room, followed by silence. A guy to her left takes his turn to ask. “Last time you were in Starling City, there were some quite graphic photos of you with a local girl. Any updates on that?”

She looks at Oliver, desperate to hear his answer. “She was just a friend.” he answers. “We’re still friends, I think.”

She won’t, for the life of her, know what prompts her, but the next second, she lifts her hand up and meets Slade Wilson’s eyes.

“Yes, miss in the green shirt.” Slade Wilson points at her.

Her eyes grow large, she looks around, and sees that he is actually pointing at her to prompt her to ask her question, and everyone but Oliver is looking at her.

She clears her throat as a microphone is passed to her hands. “Is this thing on?” she mutters, then hears her voice echo through the room. Oliver turns to look at her. “Oliver.” she breathes out. “Are there any circumstances in which the two of you might be…” she pauses “might be just more than friends?” Her voice hikes up at the last word.

Their eyes meet. “I hoped there would be, but no.” Oliver’s answer is firm.

“But what would you say if-“she starts, but Slade interrupts her.

“It’s alright, let her speak.” Oliver tells him. “What you were saying?”

“I was wondering if this girl turned out…”

“Felicity.” Someone in the room shouts out. “Felicity Smoak.”

She blushes upon hearing her voice. “I was wondering if Felicity realized that despite being a certified genius, she was actually being an idiot by not following her heart and actually asked you to reconsider, would you reconsider her?”

There is chatter around the room, but she ignores it all and just focuses on Oliver and his reaction. Then everything goes silent as all wait for his response.

“Yes, I would.” he just smiles.

She smiles, too. “That’s very fortunate to hear. The readers of Wired magazine will be wired to hear that.”

She decides to walk over to him, but before she can, she sees Oliver lean over and tell Slade something, who in return starts talking. “Vertigo Magazine, could you ask your question again?”

“Mr. Queen, how much longer are you staying in Starling City?”

Oliver looks at her, a huge grin on his face, and leans towards the microphone. “Forever.”

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is it. Thank you all so much for reading, you guys are the best! Hope you all enjoyed this sappy little thing.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where this came from but I was in the shower when a quote from Notting Hill popped into my mind and suddenly I reversed the roles to Oliver and Felicity and three hours later, boom.
> 
> I am not sure if I will continue this. Please comment if you like it! 
> 
> It's not beta'd. I'm fulltimeprocrastinator on tumblr.


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